Improvement from 1st to 2nd Marathon

Just curious to see what kind of bump some of you experienced marathon runners saw between your first and second marathon in regards to time. I know there are tons of variables that make it so I cant directly correlate to myself but wondering what some of you have seen.

I went from not running hardly any a year ago at this time to a marathon last April so I'm wondering how much improvement I'll get from maintaining until I start actually training for the same marathon next year.

Then something clicked in my training, or I finally started to learn from experience, and in my 4th marathon in 2009 I ran 3:30, then in 2010 ran a 3:09. I think experience is a great tool in training.

I guess any improvement is good improvement right? I was in better physical shape for the first one, I logged less than 350mi between the two of them. I felt much better after the 2nd one, which probably means I took it too easy. Negative splits for both, which probably means I took it too easy. Oct 2013 should be significantly faster.

I noticed a huge difference during training. First time around I was sore every time I bumped up my long run distance. I iced my feet a few times when my long runs got over 16 miles. When I did my one and only 20 miler I did it in the morning then went to teach in the afternoon. I was done at 2:30 so I went home for two hours to lay on my sofa before getting my kids. I felt wasted. Post marathon was a painful recovery. My right knee swelled up. I could only walk, if I stepped too quickly it screamed at me.

Marathon #2 I barely felt like i had run each of the longer distances. I easily did a 20 miler 5.5 weeks before the marathon and did it 40 minutes faster than I had the first time around. I did a 21.75 miler 2.5 weeks out and also did that one faster than the 20 miler I did during marathon #1. My body was stronger and more capable of the training the first time around. Post marathon my hips felt a little weak for a week but I was able to do physical activity (swimming, biking and running) 2 days after the marathon. I was a bit sore but fully functional.

Lots of variables to consider: 4:20 (hot and humid, training was limited); DNF(training was very strong); 4:35 (hot and sunny; training was good); 4:04 (training was limited, but it was cool and dry). The key to my improvement has been avoiding the heat.

Remove From Your Block List

Manage Follow Preferences

Block

When you block a person, they can no longer invite you to a private message or post to your profile wall. Replies and comments they make will be collapsed/hidden by default. Finally, you'll never receive email notifications about content they create or likes they designate for your content.